Tasty snacks, shame about the MSG

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A research center has warned consumers of children's snack products which contain the carcinogen, monosodium glutamate (MSG), without mentioning the substance in the list of ingredients on their packages, and urged the government to withdraw them from the market.

The Public Interest Research and Advocacy Center (PIRAC) said on Thursday it had discovered 13 brands of snacks that contained MSG, but failed to mention it on their packages, either in part or in its entirety.

The brands are among those snacks widely sold and most popular among children, said Nurhasan of PIRAC as quoted by Antara.

Of the brands examined, seven contain MSG but do not mention it on their packages, two mention MSG as an ingredient but fail to tell the amount it contains, and the other four mention the use of chemical flavoring but not the amount of additive MSG.

The study showed that the amount of MSG in the snacks ranged between 0.46 percent and 1.59 percent.

Excessive consumption of the MSG chemical additive may cause liver problems, trauma, hypertension, stress, fever, allergic reactions, nausea, headaches, migraines, asthma, depression and neurological damage. The substance is also not recommended for consumption by pregnant women, as it will affect the fetus.

Some experts believe that a maximum 12 milligrams of MSG per day could be dangerous.

PIRAC deemed that the snack producers had misled consumers by not mentioning the presence of MSG or the amount contained in the snacks, which violates Law No. 8/1999 on consumer protection and Government Regulation No. 69/1999 on labeling and advertisement of food products.

"The BPOM has to order the withdrawal of the products from the market, unless the producers stop misleading consumers," Nurhasan said, referring to the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency.

He suggested that BPOM require producers to inform consumers about the side effects of MSG consumption on their packages, as cigarette producers have done. -- JP